1. New Orleans Saints (1) – Whooooooooa nelly, what a finish in Washington this past weekend! I have to give the Redskins a ton of credit for hanging 30 on the Saints, but the hero – or goat – of the game was that poor kicker who will go down in history with one of the biggest gaffes.
2. Indianapolis Colts (2) – They’d been questioned about as much as a 12-0 team could possibly have been questioned, with some tight wins and a few come-from-behinds. Give credit where it’s due; they solidly handled one of the hottest non-undefeated teams in the league in the Titans, and kept the unblemished record intact.
3. Minnesota Vikings (3) – No shame in dropping one to a tough Cardinals team out in the desert. And it’s taken longer than I anticipated, but Old Man River finally got sloppy and tossed the other team a few passes. This weekend’s tilt with the Bungalows should be quite a contest.
4. Arizona Cardinals (7) – What a statement game for the defending NFC champions. If you’d asked me four weeks ago which Super Bowl XLIII team would be on the bubble, and which one would look prepared to make another run, I would’ve called Mr. Warner the Bubble Boy.
5. San Diego Chargers (4) – They did what they were supposed to do: beat an awful team. They’ll visit the Cowboys on Sunday for what looks to be quite a showdown against likely division winners.
6. Cincinnati Bengals (5) – No style points for beating the Lions in an entirely-too-close contest. Sorry.
7. Green Bay Packers (not ranked) – I think I pick against this team virtually every week, and somehow they have twice as many wins as losses, and are in prime position to scoop up a wild card and try their hand in the second season.
8. Philadelphia Eagles (not ranked) – I realize Atlanta was without their franchise passer, but was unaware that they also played without their franchise’s defense. Philly put on a show even with a few banged up stars of their own. I just don’t quite know what to make of this team week to week, but this week, I make them the underdogs in Giants Stadium.
9. Tennessee Titans (9) – Yes, they lost. But they lost to Peyton Manning, so how can that really count?
10. Denver Broncos (not ranked) – Speaking of losing to Peyton Manning, Kyle Orton and the plucky if not special Broncos are scheduled to be Unlucky Number 13 this week. Hopefully I will be able to drop them back off the list and into the abyss from whence they came afterwards.